The Body’s Transport Network:
The Circulatory System - 1/3

A large part of the processes that take place within your body are linked to the circulatory system, thanks to an exceedingly complex structure. A network of arteries and veins nourish the 100 trillion or so cells in your body, visiting every one individually. In this chapter, we shall be closely considering this complex system composed of the heart, veins, blood and a great many more components.

Blood: The River of Life That Flows Through Your Body

Blood cells travel through the body by means of the veins and arteries.

Many needs in all living things—such as carrying nourishment and gasses like oxygen to the cells, and eliminating waste products from the body—are met by substances carried by the circulatory system. In human beings, the liquid that performs all these functions is the blood. Every single cell in your body, from a skin cell on your fingertip to the specialized retinal cells in your eyes, depends on what blood provides.

Blood flows through the arteries and veins that interpenetrate the body like a transport network or river delta, visiting every single corner of the body. During its travels through the arteries, that river carries numerous substances that the cells require. We can think of these as cargo packages carried by the river, containing food, water and various chemical substances. The most urgent package to be delivered is oxygen, because if deprived of oxygen, cells will soon die. Thanks to the specially constructed system in your body, however, the packages are delivered to every cell in time and to the correct “addresses.”

You seldom feel the flowing of this river during the course of your day-to-day life. However, the human body has been created with such a consummate artistry that though everywhere is interpenetrated by blood vessels, they are invisible from the outside. That is because the 2-mm (0.07-inch) layer of skin that covers your body conceals the capillaries in a masterly fashion.1

That epidermal layer is actually so thin that the slightest scratch will cause some blood to leak through it. Were the vessels not covered by a very fine and attractive skin, there is no doubt that even the most attractive people in the world would appear hideously repellent.

All the vital processes in the body take place thanks to the circulatory system. You can see, hear, breathe, walk and stay alive thanks to the venous network shown above.

Blood performs a great number of vital functions inside the body, such as carrying waste and toxic substances to the liver, supporting the immune system, regulating body temperature rather like an air-conditioning unit, and carrying nutriments to the relevant regions. Communication via hormones within the body is also performed almost entirely by the blood.

Blood’s Vital and Inimitable Features

1. Responsibility for Transportation

Substances of all kinds that the body requires are carried to the relevant organs by the blood. Nutrients such as glucose, amino acids and minerals—and most importantly, oxygen—are just a few of these. In addition, the blood works like a waste disposal system, collecting unwanted substances from every cell. And each of the 100 trillion or so cells in the body produces waste products as a result of its daily functions. These waste products, including such potentially toxic compounds as carbon dioxide and urea, are removed from the cells by means of the bloodstream. The blood carries the non-gaseous wastes to the kidneys, where they are distilled. The carbon dioxide produced in the cells is carried to the lungs, from where it is expelled from the body.

It is unconscious blood cells that do all this. However, these cells can, in a very conscious manner, distinguish between waste and useful substances carried in the blood, and know which are to be deposited where. For example, they never carry toxic gasses to the kidneys, nor metabolic by-products to the lungs. Neither do they send waste products to any organ in need of nutrients— an error that would lead to the death of the entire body. The blood cells perform their functions with no confusion, error, misunderstanding or deficiency, in a most conscious manner, indicating the existence of a Mind and Consciousness that controls, regulates and organizes them. That cannot be the human being in question, because people live their entire lives quite unaware of these processes. Yet the circulation system continues to function, and flawlessly.

To claim that the blood cells acquired their ability to distinguish, select and decide by chance, and that they do these things of their own will, would be totally illogical and irrational. It is Allah, the Almighty, Who gave the blood these features and created this flawless system.

Blood cells moving in the veins

One Single Instance is Sufficient To Comprehend The Nonsensical Nature of Darwinism!

A most illogical belief, Darwinism claims that millions of random events gave life to inanimate substances and gave rise to perfect structures that function quite flawlessly. The following example will be enough to see how nonsensical Darwinism truly is.

Albumin, one of the carrying proteins in the blood, attaches to itself fats such as cholesterol, hormones, toxic bile and drugs such as penicillin. Moving through the bloodstream, it then deposits the toxins it has collected in the liver in order to be neutralized, and carries nutrients and hormones wherever these are required.

Now ask yourself a few questions:

How can a molecule such as albumin, made up of atoms, with no intelligence or consciousness, distinguish between fats and toxins, drugs and nutrients?

Moreover, how is it able to recognize the liver, bile duct and stomach, never confusing one for the other, and can always deposit the substances it carries in exactly the right place and precisely the right proportions?

If you are shown the waste products, drugs and nutrients carried in the blood, you will be unable to distinguish one from the other unless you have had medical training. Even then, you will definitely be unable to determine how much of each one should be deposited at each organ.

The albumin molecule, a compound consisting of a few non-sentient atoms, knows things that the great majority of people cannot unless they have received medical training. And albumin has been performing its functions in all human beings flawlessly, for millions of years. No doubt, the way that a collection of atoms can exhibit such purposeful consciousness comes about through Allah’s infinite might and knowledge.

2. Troop Carrying

An immune-system cell patrolling the blood vessels

Another of the blood’s duties is to carry the cells of the immune system that fight disease. Any foreign bodies like viruses and bacteria that enter the body are neutralized by the antibodies and leucocytes in the blood. In addition, immune system cells patrol the bloodstream and so monitor the entire body. (For more details, see The Miracle of the Immune System by Harun Yahya.)

3. Communications

The blood also constitutes one of the body’s main avenues of communication. There is a magnificent communications system among the cells in the human body. They exchange information with one another, just as if each one were truly conscious. The cells send to one another chemical messages in the form of hormones, carried by the blood. (For details, see the chapter on “Splendid Communication within the Body: The Hormonal System.”)

4. Wound Healing

One of the blood’s most miraculous features is its clotting mechanism. Thanks to this clotting, or coagulation, blood loss from a damaged vessel is reduced to the minimum possible. During the clotting process, dozens of proteins, enzymes and vitamins serve in regimented order. Because of this feature, scientists have shown the clotting mechanism as an example of flawless planning. (For details, see pp. 41-47)

5. The Regulation of Balances Within the Body

One of the vital cargo packages carried by the blood is heat. Arteries filled with blood spread heat through the body, just like the piping that carries hot water throughout a building. But unlike the pipes in a building, the body’s heat source is not a single boiler, but all the many cells in the body. Thanks to the blood, heat produced by each cell is distributed equally to all the others.

Were there no heat distribution system in your body, you would experience grave problems. As the result of any muscular activity you perform—running for instance, or carrying a heavy load—your legs or arms would overheat, and other regions of your body would remain close to room temperature—an imbalance that would inflict serious damage on your metabolism. For that reason, the equal distribution of heat is of the greatest importance.

Various changes take place in your body depending on the pace of the actions you perform. When body temperature rises, for instance, the regulator in the brain (the hypothalamus) arranges for blood vessels to expand and for your sweat glands to go into operation (5). The body’s temperature immediately goes down. When the body loses heat, the same regulatory center acts in reverse, ensuring that blood vessels contract and that shivering takes place. (6) As a result of these measures, body temperature then rises.

In the same way, the blood again goes into action along with the sweat glands in order to reduce excessive heat. Blood vessels under the skin dilate, making it easier for heat carried in the blood to be released to the air. When we engage in strenuous physical activity, therefore, your face grows flushed because of blood vessel dilation. Blood also plays an important role in keeping your body temperature from cooling off. When you feel cold, your skin turns paler, because blood vessels under the skin contract according to the chill in the air. The quantity of blood in those regions close to the air is therefore reduced, and heat loss from within the body is reduced to a minimum.

A Tissue Consisting of Floating Cells

Structurally, the blood is very different to the other fluids in the body. In one sense, blood is actually a tissue, just like bone or muscle. However, while the cells that comprise these other tissues are bound tightly together, cells composing the blood are not attached to one another. Individual blood cells—known as erythrocytes, leucocytes and thrombocytes—move freely distributed within the blood plasma.

The Components of Blood

Erythrocytes: Small Red Cells

1. Plasma
2. Red blood cells
3. Various white blood cells

When blood is examined under the microscope, many different kinds of cells can be seen (above). The large numbers of red blood cells give the blood its distinctive color. The blood assumes its bright red color when the red blood cells are loaded with oxygen. Otherwise, blood has a pinkish brown appearance.

The 25 trillion or so small red cells in the human body never cease carrying their loads. These cells, known as erythrocytes, travel all through the body inside the veins and arteries, carrying oxygen or carbon dioxide. However, these cells need a special structure in order to be able to carry a substance. For example, for a cell to carry oxygen, the most ideal shape for it is to be flat. This increases the cell’s surface area and facilitates contact with the oxygen molecules.

Indeed, the shape of the erythrocyte is reminiscent of a round, flat cushion, whose shape permits the greatest possible surface contact with the oxygen atom.

Under normal circumstances, some 2.5 million erythrocytes are produced in the body every second.2 It’s vitally important that the number of erythrocytes be regulated. A rise in their number for whatever reason—a reduction in body temperature, for instance—can lead to serious problems. When there is an excessive drop in body temperature the number of erythrocytes remains the same, although the blood fluid decreases.

The viscosity of the blood is reduced, as the number of erythrocytes increases in terms of units per volume. This can lead to congestion in the veins, obliging the heart to work harder. It’s therefore of vital importance for the number of erythrocytes to be regulated.

It is not enough for the body’s transportation system for red blood cells to be flat. Erythrocytes that carry oxygen would be pointless if they could not offer it to the cells in a usable manner. The cells of the body require molecules to bind oxygen to them—molecules that must combine with the oxygen in the ideal manner, in a three-dimensional form, and carry the oxygen safely. However, they must not bind too tightly to the oxygen, and when they arrive at the cell to which they will release the oxygen, they must separate from it with no difficulty. In short, in order for the oxygen to be transported and used where necessary, a very special molecule with a most particular creation is needed.

That molecule is hemoglobin, which gives the erythrocyte—and thus, the blood itself—its red color.

Since hemoglobin performs two entirely separate functions, it has been described as an extraordinary molecule.

As hemoglobin deposits carbon dioxide in the lungs, it takes up oxygen and moves from there to the muscles, which oxidize nutrients and produce carbon dioxide. When the hemoglobin reaches the muscles, it carries out a reverse procedure, depositing oxygen and taking up carbon dioxide—all in a seemingly conscious and disciplined manner.

In 1996, scientists discovered that in addition to carrying oxygen, the hemoglobin molecules in the erythrocyte structure also carried another molecule of vital importance: nitrogen monoxide (NO). There is a very important reason why hemoglobin carries this gas. With the assistance of NO, hemoglobin monitors how much oxygen is to be provided to the tissues.3 Therefore, hemoglobin’s transportation of nitrogen monoxide is of the very greatest importance to human health.

1. Air sacs in the lung
2. Capillaries in tissue
3. Capillaries in the lung
4. Cells anywhere in the body

5. Carbon dioxide
6. Oxygen
7. Leukocyte
8. Plasma
9. Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is a molecule ideally created for carrying oxygen.

The flawless molecular structure and functions of hemoglobin attracted the interest of scientists. In his book The Great Evolution Mystery, the evolutionist Gordon Rattray Taylor writes the following:

The hemoglobin molecule knows what to do, when and how, and acts under the inspiration of Allah.

The formation of blood, for instance, is a saga in itself. ... [It contains] at least eighty components, many of them still insufficiently understood. A component of central importance, of course, is the haemoglobin which picks up oxygen in the lungs, while giving up carbon dioxide; and then having travelled to the muscles, gives up oxygen and accepts carbon dioxide, which the muscles produce as a result of burning fuel, much as a car produces carbon monoxide. It is a remarkable molecule indeed which at one moment has an affinity for oxygen and a few seconds later loses that affinity; that it simultaneously changes its preferences with respect to carbon dioxide makes it even more remarkable. There could be no more amazing example of adaptation to a task.4

As summarized by Taylor, the hemoglobin molecule is able to make decisions when and where required, just like a conscious entity. Hemoglobin does not only carry oxygen; when it passes by a muscle in urgent need of oxygen, it also immediately realizes that it must deliver that oxygen, and acts in the knowledge that it needs to collect the carbon dioxide being released, and heads directly for the lungs to deposit its new load. The hemoglobin never confuses oxygen and carbon dioxide, and always moves to the correct destination.

It is most thought-provoking that a molecule should behave in a way that requires thought, decision-making, selection and preference. Thanks to the extraordinary consciousness exhibited by this molecule, human beings are easily able to survive. An average of 900 million erythrocytes are produced in the human body every hour, and each erythrocyte cell contains some 300 million hemoglobin molecules. These molecules possess the ability to perform all of these processes without the slightest confusion. Bearing in mind the number of hemoglobin molecules in the human body and the way that all of them, without exception, possess the same abilities, you can see even more clearly the importance of this subject.

It is obvious to every rational person that such selectivity could never come about by chance, and that random events could never provide these features to all the billions of hemoglobin molecules in the human body. It is Allah Who created the hemoglobin molecule and placed it, with all its characteristics, inside the human body.

That is Allah, your Lord. There is no deity but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. (Surat al-An‘am: 102)

The Hemoglobin-Based Distribution of Oxygen Represents an Impossible Dilemma for Evolutionists

The blood’s inability to distribute oxygen and take up carbon dioxide without hemoglobin represents an impossible dilemma for evolutionists. That is because evolutionists maintain that blood and the other systems in the human body all developed gradually through a series of stages. In other words, according to this claim, there must have been a time when blood already existed, but when the hemoglobin molecule was not yet present in it. Yet from the point of view of the theory of evolution, this constitutes a major contradiction. Blood cannot perform its function in the absence of the hemoglobin molecule, and an organism will swiftly die if oxygen fails to reach its cells. That organism has no time to wait for the hemoglobin molecule to form. Hemoglobin needs to have formed at the same time as the blood. In other words, it is essential that the blood, together with all its properties and structures, should emerge in a single moment.

Evolutionist claims regarding gradual development collapse at this point, and it can be seen that blood was created by Allah in a single instant.

The Wisdom in the Erythrocyte’s Shape

As already stated, the erythrocyte cell is shaped like a flat, round cushion. That ideal shape increases the cell’s surface area and facilitates contact with oxygen. In the event that this shape is deformed, exceedingly serious diseases result. In sickle cell anemia, the erythrocytes contain an abnormal form of hemoglobin known as hemoglobin S. When deprived of oxygen, this hemoglobin breaks down into elongated crystals within the erythrocyte, which crystals lengthen the cell, giving it a sickle-like shape. Since the erythrocytes have assumed a crescent-like form, the passage of oxygen from the blood to the tissues is made more difficult. This leads to an oxygen deficiency and increased production of sickle-shaped red cells. The condition can reach fatal proportions within a few hours.5

Apart from such diseases, the shape of the erythrocyte is the same in everyone. Thanks to that shape, they can easily carry oxygen to wherever it’s needed. The fact that the erythrocytes are round and flat in everyone who has ever lived, or will live in future, can never be explained in terms of coincidences. Allah has perfect knowledge of all, and sets out and arranges everything down to the very finest detail. Great is the glory of Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

Normal red blood cells (erythrocytes) are able to pass through the veins easily (1). Red blood cells that have been deformed, assuming a sickle-like shape (2), lead to congestion in the veins (3).

Healthy red blood cells

Blood: The Miraculous and Incomparable Fluid

Scientists investigating the phenomena taking place in the blood are still trying to replicate the flawless system in it. Yet to date, they have registered no concrete success. Indeed, researchers have begun abandoning their endeavors to imitate this extraordinary fluid, have altered the direction of their studies of blood, and are now trying to produce a different liquid capable of carrying oxygen.

However, scientists encounter various difficulties in their researches. Blood clots as soon as they withdraw it from the veins and expose it to the air. Also, blood cells do not behave in the same way under the microscope as they do in the body. And since blood does not remain alive either in plastic tubes or glass bottles, the cells must be taken out and examined one by one. Bearing all this in mind, science has been analyzing not blood in living things but blood in the laboratory. (R. von Bredow, Geo, November 1997)

This extraordinary substance, the likes of which cannot be produced in the laboratory, has been produced in the body since the appearance of the first human being. To claim that a substance that cannot be replicated with today’s most advanced technology could have arisen by chance events represents a total departure from reality. This substance, that gives life to so many organisms, is one of the manifest proofs of Allah’s creation.

Erythrocytes’ Ability to Change Shape

Erythrocytes are so small that a single drop of blood can contain 250 million of them. This gives them an advantage in being able to move with ease in the veins. However, the human body contains blood vessels with a diameter even smaller than the erythrocytes’. At first glance, this might seem to represent a problem, because the erythrocyte must squeeze through blood vessels that are even narrower than itself. How does this difficult process take place?

At this point, the erythrocytes’ flexible structure goes into operation. Thanks to their flat, exceedingly flexible structure, they are able to travel through even the narrowest blood vessels. This flexibility is another example of these cells’ creation. If erythrocytes lose just a little of that flexibility, serious consequences arise. In some diabetes patients, for example, sensitive tissues in the eyes become congested by erythrocytes that have lost their flexibility, which can lead to blindness in extreme cases.6 As just one example shows, every part of the human body is created with an exceedingly sensitive, flawless equilibrium.

The Economy Provided by the Body’s Recycling System

The recycling system in the human body has a flawless structure. In your body, a great many processes are carried out every single moment. Harmful wastes, dead cells, and foreign bodies that enter the body are destroyed by the immune system. A great many other unnecessary substances are constantly moving about, yet none of these inflict any harm, because there are systems in the body to expel these substances or to reuse them in the processes within the body.

Take constantly renewed erythrocyte cells, for example. These cells’ lifespan is approximately 120 to 130 days. Old cells die in the liver, the spleen and the bone marrow, and new erythrocytes are constantly produced to replace them. Ten million erythrocytes die every second, and 200 billion new ones are produced every day to replace those, so that all the erythrocytes in the human body are replaced every four months or so.7 The iron molecule inside dying erythrocytes is stored with the recycling system for use in the production of new ones. This is an example of magnificent industrial planning.8 Clearly, such planning could not have come about by itself. It is Allah Who created the erythrocyte together with these features.

Leucocytes: Micro-Troopers

7. Iron passing to the blood from the spleen
8. Iron passing to red bone marrow
9. Provision of iron from foodstuffs
10. Loss of iron (through urine, sweat, etc.)
11. Iron deficiency is usually observed in the liver.

The illustration above shows how iron absorption occurs in the body. The constantly renewed red blood cells are an important source of iron.

In a single drop of blood, there are some 400,000 miniature soldiers known as leucocytes. Under normal conditions, the number of leucocytes in a cubic inch of blood is between 7 and 10 million, although if a powerful defense is required, this figure can suddenly leap to as high as 30,000.9 The duty of these troops is to defend the body from micro-enemies. The leucocytes are programmed to destroy everything, living or inanimate that does not belong in the body. They therefore seek out, locate, follow and, at the right moment, destroy bacteria, viruses and harmful substances of all kinds that enter the body.

In structural terms, leucocytes are different from the other cells in the blood. For example, erythrocytes have no nucleus, but leucocytes do possess a nucleus as well as all the organelles. But leucocytes live for only a few days, or in the event of an infection, only a few hours. Contrary to what you might assume, such a brief life span is very important from the point of view of protecting the body. Because leucocytes engaged in defense, that is the worn-out ones die. But at that very moment, new healthy ones with a far greater defensive capacity are produced.10 In fact, leucocytes do not consist of only one type of cell, but rather of different kinds of troops, and “leucocyte” is a general term for cells that fight on the body’s behalf.

These are classified under two main groups. The first consists of granulocytes that initially encounter and combat the enemy. The second group is made up of lymphocytes that produce special weapons to wield against the enemy, in the form of antibodies.

Lymphocytes have different properties from those of the other cells in the blood. A much larger number of lymphocytes live in tissues than in the blood. These cells in the tissues, in the body’s depths, construct the equivalent of military bases and defend the tissues from germs. That being so, therefore, what is the reason for the presence of lymphocytes in the blood?

In fact, lymphocytes use the bloodstream as their transportation system. Just like a police patrol, they travel around the body by means of the blood and quickly reinforce tissues containing old and weak leucocytes. It is impossible for such a rational, rapid system to have come about by chance, as evolutionists would have us believe. Clearly, cells consisting of unconscious atoms could not have acquired their selective ability and responsiveness, or the features that allow them to protect the body, all by themselves. The way that this minute entity fights to protect other cells is therefore a very important clue. The way that a cell too small for you to see with your naked eye sacrifices itself on your behalf, and the fact that in your body there are billions of cells possessed of just the same self-sacrificing properties, are just some of the millions of miracles before your eyes.

The perfection in the structure of the leucocytes, their self-sacrifice, martial knowledge and abilities are not the result of their own preferences, but of their creation by Allah. So far, those who seek to prove otherwise have been unable to do so, nor will they have any more success in the future. In Surat an-Nur, Allah has compared those who deny Him to mirage:

But the actions of those who disbelieve are like a mirage in the desert. A thirsty man thinks it is water but when he reaches it, he finds it to be nothing at all, but he finds Allah there. He will pay him his account in full. Allah is swift at reckoning. (Surat an-Nur:39)

With their life spans and other features they possess for the body’s defense, leukocytes are clear evidence of creation. Various images of leukocutes can be seen in the pictures to the side. The yellow cells are lymphocytes, the small ones leokocytes.

Evolutionists’ Distorted Logic on This Subject

A huge number of germs enter the human body every day. The immune system seeks to neutralize them in the first stage. However, some germs and foreign bodies manage to enter the circulatory system and represent a threat to life. Such bodies are known as antigens. The body seeks to destroy antigens, or to prevent them multiplying, by producing the substances known as antibodies. Antibodies neutralize antigens by locking onto their three-dimensional structure, just like keys fitting a lock. To help understand this system, lock-and-key analogy between antibodies and antigens requires careful consideration.

Immune cells are capable of producing antibodies for each of the hundreds of thousands of different antigens that occur in nature. That enables the body’s cells to instantly produce keys adapted to these hundreds of thousands of locks.

But what’s really interesting is that the human body can produce antibodies even against artificial antigens manufactured in the laboratory. In the same way that the cells can produce suitable keys for locks in nature, they can also produce keys for locks that do not exist in nature.

How can a mechanism within the body possess such astonishing information about the outside world? of course, that cannot be explained in terms of random coincidences. How does a cell come to acquire knowledge of hundreds of thousands of foreign bodies, even of a very different antigen produced in the laboratory? Even if you accept that defensive cells in some way recognize antigens in the body, it’s still quite astonishing that they can recognize one they’ve never encountered before. Moreover, in the same way that the defensive cells immediately identify this foreign substance entering the body, they also possess the ability necessary to immediately identify and produce the weapons (or antibodies) effective against it. To say that these cells, equipped with abilities like identification, and taking appropriate measures that require intellect and consciousness, came into being by chance is illogical. In the same way that evolutionists cannot explain, in terms of their own theory, the way these cells identify all forms of foreign bodies, so they seek to gloss over the issue with exceedingly illogical, unscientific explanations.

Ali Demirsoy, a Turkish evolutionist and scientist, says the following about the defense cells’ recognition of artificial antigens:

“However, a cell that has previously developed a mechanism for producing antibodies against a chemical substance artificially synthesized in the 20th century is clairvoyant.”11

1. B Cells

2. Antibodies

B cells, a component of the immune system, contribute to the defense of the body by producing the antibodies that fight specific invaders.

In the same book, Professor Demirsoy admits that there has so far been no explanation of this: “How and in what form do plasma cells acquire this knowledge, and how do they produce specially formed antibodies accordingly? No definitive explanation has so far been forthcoming.”12

a. Antigen
b. Antibody
c. Antigen combining with antibody

1) Immune cells immediately identify foreign cells that enter the body. At the same time they identify and produce the most effective weapons--antibodies--for use against the enemy.

2) Antibodies eliminate antigens by combining with them. In a very important way, the body’s cells create weapons tailored to the particular enemy.

3) As can be seen, antibodies lock onto antigens with a three-dimensional structure, much as a key fits into a lock, to eliminate the antigens.

In these words, Demirsoy is admitting that the cell possesses a number of extraordinary properties. That is because the word “clairvoyant” is used to describe someone who possesses certain information before the fact. Possession of knowledge by a cell—especially about entities far from its own environment—is something extraordinary. One cannot, of course, expect a cell that comes into being by means of a combination of inanimate atoms to possess powerful instincts or advanced knowledge by chance. Such a claim would exceed the bounds of reason and logic.

However, since evolutionists are in a hopeless state, they must accept the miraculous properties possessed by living things since their creation. Yet they try to account for the source of this perfection in other terms, in order to deny that these characteristics were specially created—in other words, to deny the existence of Allah. After passing that point, evolutionists offer explanations that have nothing whatsoever to do with science, merely engaging in propaganda that seeks to gloss over their despairing state. They attempt to hypnotize listeners by saying “This is a miracle of evolution” or “this cell is apparently clairvoyant,” as if they were an evolutionary talisman.

The fact is, however, that cells too small to be seen with the naked eye and constantly being renewed, possess the extraordinary ability and equipment to identify and destroy all enemies that threaten the human body before they have even seen them. To ascribe such a situation to chance underscores the intellectual weakness of those who aim to deny the existence of Allah.

Evolutionists suggest that mutations have given the cells such perfect functioning and characteristics. In his book Inheritance and Evolution, Demirsoy goes on to say that, “It is maintained that this mechanism [the antibody’s recognition of antigens] came about in the form of mutations that developed by chance.”

Detailed examination of the above quotation helps understand the stratagems that evolutionist scientists resort to. The author states that some circles maintain that this mechanism came into being as the result of mutations. A reader lacking a detailed knowledge of biology might well think that this sentence represented a scientific explanation and a proven truth. The fact is, however, that the claim that the antibody’s recognition of antigens came about by chance mutations is completely hollow, of no scientific value, and has been written with the sole aim of distracting and influencing the reader.

This method of deceiving people resembles hoodwinking by means of word games those ignorant of the outside world, or who has completely lost his memory. If such people are shown a skyscraper equipped with the most advanced technology and told that that building “formed as the result of an earthquake,” even if they believed that such a thing was logically impossible, they would have no means of disproving it. Nonetheless, someone who uses his reason and conscience will still appreciate that such an event could never have taken place.

To say that a complex cell came into existence through mutations is hardly different. First of all, any tiny cell possesses a technology far superior to that of any huge skyscraper. Indeed, many scientists say that the cell is the most superior and complex structure they have yet encountered. Secondly, the effect on the cell of mutation—which is claimed to have endowed the cell with its characteristics—is generally even more destructive than the effects of an earthquake on a skyscraper.

It is absolutely impossible for such a destructive factor to produce, by chance, a cell able to produce individual antibodies for hundreds of thousands of antigens, and displays a memory and intelligence far greater than those of human beings.

According to the theory of evolution, the cell acquired these features as the result of many consecutive mutations. That’s analogous to a city’s being erected as the result of many consecutive earthquakes!

Let us accept for a moment, albeit in defiance of scientific facts and no matter how impossible such a thing may be—that each mutation did give the cell some beneficial feature. Yet even that is not sufficient, because the immune cell could not have waited for millions of years to acquire all its characteristics. If the cell is unable to fulfill its function, that spells death for the organism in question. Defensive cells, together with all their properties, must therefore have been present in the living thing right from the very first moment.

In addition, immune cells do not just possess a very superior reproductive capacity. There are many classes of cells in the immune system, each with very different properties and functions. Bearing in mind the properties of such cells, and their varying abilities, it can once again be seen how the theory of evolution’s “chance” account collapses in the face of the facts.

Immune cells’ ability to estimate the physical structures of other living cells and their ability to produce tactics in accordance with this, right down to the finest detail, were created by Allah, the Almighty.

Your deity is Allah alone, there is no deity but Him. He encompasses all things in His knowledge.(Surah Ta Ha: 98)

Plasma constitutes an important part of the blood. The proteins and salts in plasma perform vitally important functions. Blood clotting, removal of toxins from the body, and the transportation of nutrients are just a few of the tasks that proteins perform. Plasma carries out the transportation-delivery function within the body, with never any confusion or error. These proteins exist in the plasma of all humans, performing exactly the same functions. It is of course Allah, the Lord of All, Who endows the proteins constituting the liquid plasma with their intelligence.

The fluid in which the blood cells (erythrocytes, lymphocytes) swim is known as plasma. This is no simple liquid, but a special compound containing a great many special substances. Plasma consists of 92% water, 6% to 8% protein, and quantities of dissolved salts, glucose, fat and amino acids, carbon dioxide, nitrogenous wastes and hormones.

Plasma distributes the nutrients you obtain from the food you eat throughout your body. It also carries waste products that cells produce to the relevant organs in order to expel them from the body. . . If plasma did not have this responsibility of transport and delivery, then the food you eat would serve no purpose, nutrients would not reach your tissues, and your body would swiftly become poisoned because the waste products it produces could not be expelled.

Among the plasma’s other tasks include:

Ensuring blood pressure is kept at a specific level,
Assisting in the equal distribution of heat in the body,

Maintaining the acidity of the blood and other tissues at a specific level.

Plasma proteins each have very different functions. They come in three main forms: albumin, fibrinogen and globulins.

Albumin is the most numerous plasma protein. It performs a sort of carrying service in the body. Albumin’s most important function is to prevent excessive liquid passing from the capillaries to the surrounding structures.13 In order to understand the importance of this, look at the path traced by nutrients in the body. In order for them to reach the requisite tissues from the arteries, nutrients must cross the tissue wall, which possesses very small pores.

Nevertheless, no substance can cross that wall by itself. What matters here is blood pressure. Just as in a sieve, the liquid plasma component of the blood and the smallest molecules cross the wall under pressure. If there were no such barrier and these substances were able to reach the tissues in excessive quantities, then edema would form in the tissues. Albumin absorbs the water just like a sponge, and due to its high density in the blood, it thus forestalls that danger.

Water and most dissolved substances are able to cross the capillary wall with ease. But this is not possible for proteins. For that reason, such proteins as albumin remain inside the vessel at the point of transition and prevent liquid from seeping out. Albumin binds to itself fats such as cholesterol, hormones and yellow bilirubin, a poisonous bile-duct product. In addition, it binds onto penicillin and some other drugs, refusing to let them to pass. It deposits toxins in the liver, and carries nutrients and hormones to the places in the body where they are needed.14

Fibrinogen, another protein in plasma, plays an important role in blood clotting. Yet another protein in blood, the gamma globulins, transmit protective substances such as antibodies that form in response to the body’s being stimulated by a particular infection.

These are just a few of the proteins in the blood. In addition, gasses such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are also present in dissolved form in plasma. Glucose, one of the solid substances in the blood, is also very important, being used as fuel for the brain and muscles. For that reason, its level in the blood is regulated by hormones. If the glucose falls below a specific level, trembling and fainting ensue, followed shortly afterwards by coma, and often death.

Each of these substances, of such exceeding importance to human life, is the product of a very special creation, as becomes clear when one considers their functions and characteristics.

As you have seen, there are close interrelations between the substances in the blood. The absence of just one of these substances of vital importance to all human beings, or its presence in the wrong amount or with different properties, leads to serious problems in the body. This shows that all the properties of blood were created together by Allah.

Blood Clotting

1. Thrombocyte

2. Red blood cell

Throbocytes traveling widely dispersed through the blood.

Every part of the body is equipped with a system consisting of millions of vessels, through which blood constantly flows. As the result of the small scratches or cuts that the body is occasionally subject to, the liquid flowing through these tubes leaks to the surface. Under normal conditions, one might expect all the blood in the body to flow through this hole, so that even the tiniest cut leads to the death of the individual. Yet that is not what happens. The blood begins to clot around the wound, and the coagulated blood then blocks the gap, just like hardened putty.This situation resembles a hole in the bottom of a bucket being repaired by being blocked up in order to prevent water leaking out of it.

This, there can be no doubt, is a great miracle. This property of blood saves the life of every human on Earth. Were it not for that coagulating ability, then even the tiniest scratch would end in death. However, people never think about this miracle that lies right before their very eyes and so preserves their lives.

So, how does this miracle come about? How does blood coagulate? As the answer to this question is pursued, a very clear miracle of creation emerges.

Blood flowing in your capillaries immediately beneath the skin leaks out as the result of the slightest scratch or cut (top). Shortly afterward, blood around the cut begins to coagulate (middle picture). Fibrin with its soft structure begins to dry after stopping up the wound, and forms a hard shell to protect the wound until the healing process is complete (bottom).

Coagulation is reminiscent of the first aid provided by ambulances called to the scene after an auto accident.

When bleeding takes place anywhere in the body, blood platelets known as thrombocytes hasten to the site. Thrombocytes are distributed throughout the bloodstream, so wherever bleeding occurs there will inevitably be thrombocytes somewhere near.

A substance known as the von Willebrand protein acts rather like the traffic police, indicating the site of the accident and requesting first aid. It halts the thrombocytes when it detects them and causes them to halt at the scene.

The first thrombocyte to arrive on the scene emits a special substance, just as if it were calling for back-up, and calls other teams to the site. A microscopically small cell realizes that there is a problem and is able to communicate with others, which understand the message being sent out and do what is requested of them. Tiny entities invisible to the naked eye thus communicate with one another and organize themselves.

At this point, some 20 enzymes in the body combine and together, begin producing a protein called thrombin over the wound. The absence of just one of these enzymes would mean that the system would not function, and death would be the result. However, everything has been planned, and the system has been constructed in a flawless manner.

Thrombin is produced only at the site of an open wound. This resembles the first-aid team providing the necessary medicine for the patient at the scene. In addition, that production of this protein must be in just the right quantity, and moreover, it must start and end at exactly the right time. The enzymes responsible for manufacturing the protein issue among themselves the commands to start and stop.

Once a sufficient quantity of this protein has been produced, tiny fibers known as fibrinogen form, serving a very important purpose: They form a web over the wound, to which arriving thrombocytes adhere and accumulate. As more and more thrombocytes accumulate, the bleeding slows.

Afterward, once the wound is completely healed, the scab dissolves by means of similar processes.15

Consider that these enzymes and proteins consist of strings of inanimate, blind, unconscious atoms. Yet each one of these assumes a function right from the outset once an injury has occurred. They swiftly hasten to the scene, organize themselves to halt the bleeding, produce the requisite proteins as if filling an order, communicate with others to call for assistance, understand the messages received from one another, and fulfill their functions.

The system functions flawlessly, right down to the finest detail. Now, consider what would happen were there to be any flaw in this vital system: If blood began to coagulate in the absence of any wound, or if the scab that formed over the wound peeled away from it, or if the proteins that play a role in coagulation had trouble communicating—if any one of these occurred, then we would face clotting in the vessels leading to such vital organs as the heart, lungs or brain, and death would ensue due to loss of blood.

Your body does not need coagulation to take place only around visible wounds. We also need a clotting system to repair the breaks in capillaries, which happen very frequently but of which, of course, you are generally unaware. When you bang your knee against a table or chair, a large number of these capillary vessels rupture, leading to internal bleeding. But thanks to the clotting system, the bleeding immediately stops, to be followed by the healing process begins.

If no clotting occurred, the result would be the disorder known as hemophilia. Hemophiliacs need to be protected from even the slightest blow, because particularly in the advanced stages of the disease in even the smallest bleeding cannot be stopped, and that leads to the patient’s death from blood loss.

It is essential that the clotting property in our blood exist, but it also needs to be subject to strict supervision. As you can clearly see from the information provided, such a system can definitely not form in the living body by chance. This system, whose every detail is the product of planning and calculation, is an indication of the Allah’s infinite knowledge, intellect and power. To maintain that this system came about by chance in fact expresses the logical collapse of Darwinism.

Is He Who creates like him who does not create? So will you not pay heed? (Surat an-Nahl:17)

The Magical Substance Thrombin

Thrombin is a protein that coagulates the blood. However, although thrombin is present in the bloodstream it does not lead to clotting in the capillaries it moves through, thereby halting the normal flow of blood. So how does thrombin suddenly acquire its coagulating property in moments of need?

Thrombin is widely present in the bloodstream but in the form of the inactive protein prothrombin. Since prothrombin is still inactive, it cannot enable the formation of the substance fibrin which is necessary for the clotting process by putting the fibrinogen into action. Living things are thus protected from deadly uncontrolled clotting.

Consider that if only fibrinogen and prothrombin assumed duties in the blood clotting system, this could have deadly effects. In that case, when a person was injured, the prothrombin would roam aimlessly through the bloodstream, not affecting the fibrinogen, and the person concerned would die from loss of blood. Since prothrombin lacks the ability to turn fibrinogen into fibrin, there is a need for some mechanism to set prothrombin into action—and such a system actually does exist.

During the clotting process, another protein called Stuart factor affects the prothrombin, converting it into the active thrombin. Thrombin in turn converts fibrinogen into fibrin, and blood clotting thus takes place.

However, if the Stuart factor, prothrombin and fibrinogen were the only proteins to play a role in coagulation, the Stuart factor would immediately start working and the organism’s blood would solidify. For that reason Stuart factor is not present in the blood in an active form, but needs to be activated in order to start working.

At this point, coagulation displays more striking properties. It is not enough for the active Stuart factor to set the prothrombin in motion. You can mix Stuart factor and prothrombin together in a test tube, but after it takes time thrombin to form, any individual will already have died of blood loss. Yet another protein, known as accelerin, is needed to set the Stuart factor in motion. When all of these come together, the accelerin and Stuart factor immediately act on the prothrombin, turning it into thrombin and halting the bleeding.

To summarize, two separate proteins are needed to activate one proenzyme.

Yet the processes involved in coagulation go still further. Initially, in fact, the accelerin is in the form of the inactive proaccelerin. So what activates the proaccelerin? Thrombin! As you will recall, however, thrombin is further along than proaccelerin in this chain reaction. This means that thrombin, which plays a role in the production of accelerin, is rather like a grandchild appearing before the birth of its own grandparent. Yet since the Stuart factor acts on the prothrombin at a very slow rate, there is always some thrombin in the bloodstream. (Michael Behe, Op cit., pp. 85-90.)

All this is a rather superficial account of the coagulation process. Yet from this brief description, you can still see how blood clotting, which we encounter frequently in our daily lives—is actually exceedingly complex, a marvel of creation. This system functions by means of dozens of components working together, and could not function properly in the absence of any one of them. To suggest that it came into being by chance is a most illogical and irrational claim.

Moreover, evolutionists claim that living things evolved in stages. But as you have seen, all proteins and enzymes in the clotting process depend on one another for clotting to occur. In the absence of any one, the others serve no purpose, and will even lead to the death of the body concerned. Therefore, the living organism will have no time to wait for all the components to be present, and will thus die. Whatever appearance it now displays, and whatever physical and chemical features it now possesses, it must have had them all since it first appeared. This is one of the proofs that Man was created by Allah in a single moment.

Say: “Have you thought about your partner deities, those you call upon besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth; or do they have a partnership in the heavens? Have We given them a Book whose Clear Signs they follow? No indeed! The wrongdoers promise each other nothing but delusion.” (Surah Fatir:40)

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